Comparisons

Facebook, Google under fire in Maryland. What Facebook Marketers Need To Know About Pinners. Facebook has one-tenth the employees of Google, one-hundredth the employees of Toyota. Pinterest Drives More Traffic to Blogs Than Twitter [STUDY] Pinterest drove more traffic to online publishers in February than Twitter, according to third-party measurement data.

That's an impressive figure, given that the two-year-old site has an estimated 11.7 million active registered users compared to Twitter's more than 100 million. The data was provided by Shareholic, whose sharing widgets are used across more than 200,000 online publishers, mostly independent bloggers. Between them, those publishers reach some 270 million unique visitors every month. In February, the company found that a little less than half (48.81%) of all traffic came from Google, followed by Facebook (6.38%), Yahoo (1.61%), StumbleUpon (1.29%) and Bing (1.21%).

Pinterest came in sixth at 1.05%, beating out Twitter at 0.82%. In January, Shareholic found that Pinterest sent more referral traffic to publishers than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined, falling into line just behind Twitter. Yelp, Twitter & Apple's Anti-Google Coalition. [STUDY] How Hyperconnectivity Affects Young People. The Most Viral News Sources on Twitter and Facebook [INFOGRAPHIC] The BBC, The Huffington Post and The Guardian are the three most viral news sources on Facebook and Twitter, according to a new report.

The rankings, compiled by Dublin-based Newswhip, were determined by the number of stories that received more than 100 Twitter mentions and more than 100 Facebook Likes in January. Sites with paywalls, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times were not included. The BBC led the pack on Twitter, publishing 2,621 stories that received more than 100 mentions. The Guardian ranked second with 1,149 mentions, followed by Mashable (1,098), the Huffington Post (895) and TechCrunch (716).

Interestingly, 12 of the 25 most popular news sources on Twitter are new media companies with no offline predecessor. On Facebook, The Huffington Post took the lead by a large margin. Two main trends emerged from the Facebook numbers. Microsoft, Google Argue Over Browser Privacy Issue. Following the revelation that Google bypasses built-in privacy protections on the iPhone's web browser, Microsoft has come forward to declare that Google similarly exploits vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer.

Google responded to the accusations, admitting it was using a known workaround but saying Microsoft's policy is "widely non-operational. " When it was revealed last week that many Google websites get around preferences in Apple's Safari browser to anonymously track (via cookies) sites the user visited, Microsoft went to work to see if Google was also circumventing privacy settings in Internet Explorer.

In a posting yesterday, Microsoft vice president of Internet Explorer Dean Hachamovitch said this was indeed the case. 10 Reasons Twitter Is Sexier Than Facebook [INFOGRAPHIC] The Future of Sharing on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ Users of social networks are getting tired of sharing — but that doesn't mean sharing is on the decline.

A new study analyzes sharing behaviors on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and makes predictions for the future of sharing. Digital agency Beyond released the study for Social Media Week, along with the below infographic. Apple vs. Google: Who Owns Slide-to-Unlock on Phones? Both iPhones and Android devices unlock in the same way: with the user sliding his or her finger along part of the screen. That simple function has prompted a huge amount of legal wrangling, with both Apple and Google (by proxy of its recent acquisition, Motorola ) scoring victories over the ownership of "slide-to-unlock" on phones in the past week.

A German court ruled in Apple's favor on Thursday — twice — on separate allegations that Motorola Mobility had infringed on Apple's patents on slide-to-unlock. A Munich regional court said certain Motorola phones infringed on the German part of a broader European patent. Want to Avoid Getting Banned on Social Media? Learn the Rules. Ann Smarty is a search marketer and full-time web entrepreneur.

Ann blogs on search and social media tools. Her newest project, My Blog Guest, is a free platform for guest bloggers and blog owners. Follow Ann on Twitter @seosmarty. Infographic: The SMB Social Media Cheat Sheet. [REPORT] Twitter, LinkedIn Will See Slower Revenue Growth. Twitter and LinkedIn will continue to see strong advertising growth, with Twitter's revenue expected to nearly double between 2012 and 2014, according to a report by eMarketer Digital Intelligence.

The report comes against the backdrop of Facebook's pending, initial public offering and illustrates that advertising models for social networks seem to be working. Twitter gets 90% of its revenue from U.S. advertisers, while LinkedIn depends more on foreign advertisers, with just 68% of its 2012 ad revenue expected to come from the U.S. Tech's Doomsday Plots: How Your Favorite Tech Giants Could Lose Their Edge. When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone five years ago, it was a happy day for the Apple faithful.

Less so for the folks at Palm, whose employer became a ticking time bomb. In one move, Apple leapfrogged its rivals in hardware and software and changed the mobile industry forever. Hot Tips For Landing Jobs at Google, Apple and Facebook [INFOGRAPHIC] Google, Apple and Facebook are the tech trifecta, so we found facts that could help you land a job at one of these companies.

No doubt, there will be stiff competition: Nearly one in four young professionals wants to work at Google, for instance, but there's more room in the Googleplex for software developers. Facebook gets 250,000 applications a year and sifts through them to find the cream of the crop, preferring those who build things, whether they're apps or organizations. And Apple wants, well, Apple fanboys to help create the next generation of gadgetry, but you ought to have a reference from an existing Appler.

The tech field is booming, and the industry needs bright young talent to keep innovating. Tech Hiring Trends 2012: What You Need to Know [INFOGRAPHIC] Job trend reports are pointing to big things for the tech industry, including lots of openings and opportunities for growth.

Here's the lowdown on tech hiring trends. In 2012, there will be increased demand for mobile app developers, data warehouse analysts and user experience designers. Consider the number of people companies will need to hire to build mobile applications across platforms for Apple products, Android and other smartphones. We have previously reported that the smartphone app downloads are projected to grow from 10.9 billion in 2010 to 76.9 billion in 2014. Two Schools of Thought: The Key Difference Between Apple and Google. How Much Do Tech Companies Make Per Employee? The new four horsemen of tech: Apple, Amazon, Google & IBM - Jan. 5. The four horsemen of tech from left to right: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Larry Page.